Manley vs Wolcott for Innersound Eros

Hi:

One of our A-gon "regulars", Albert Porter (aka "albertporter) uses Wolcott amps with his Sound Labs electrostatic speakers. I don't know if Albert has made a direct comparison between his Wolcotts and the Manley 250, but I'm sure he could give you feedback about the Wolcotts.

Hello Mbonn,

From my (admittedly limited) exposure to Manley amps, I would think the Neo Classic 250 would be a very fine amplifier. I'm a Wolcott dealer, but I like some of the design choices Manley made with this amp (such as going with EL34 tubes instead of 6550's). The Wolcotts are particularly good with electrostats, but if the Manleys sounded great to you then I'd say there are no wrong choices here. It looks like the Manleys have good wide-bandwidth output transformers, which you need for driving electrostats.

Evidently you have a local Manley dealer that you're on very good terms with (having already bought speakers from him), and no local Wolcott dealer. Factor that in. If no one can give you a definitive comparision of the Manley and Wolcott amps that convinces you the Wolcotts are superior, then I'd suggest you support your local dealer and go with the Manley amps.

Besides... how can you resist the masculine glamor being a "Manley man"??

Best of luck to you!

Duke

Thanks for your inputs. I will contact Albert Porter to see if he has compared Manley vs Wolcott with.

Duke, Why is the EL34 considered a better choice than the 6550 ? Just curious.

Mbonn,

Like virtually all things audio, EL34 vs 6550 is a matter of tradeoffs and personal opinions.

Generally, the EL34 has better midrange, and the 6550 is more powerful and has better bass. Using lots of EL34's will give you plenty of power and bass, whereas using lots of 6550's will not give you better midrange. So if you're going to make a big, beefy amp, you might as well use plenty of EL34's and get the best of both worlds (or close to it).

At least, that's my opinion.

Duke